The B-bender requires a major channeling of a solid guitar to pull one string. For a while emulating a pedal steel was The Thing so Paul Bigsby came up with his lever action contraption. The "pedal" in the title implies pedal steel-like effects I think.

Like Gayle pointed out, there were a couple of units out there. Chet even had one but the fad died quickly.

...that's how it looks to me...The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station. Your mileage may vary...

Actually, Pete wade's guitar has pedals on it that were made by Dean Porter. I think I still have the Guitar Player magazine that shows Pete's guitar along with an article about Deans pedal that was installed. He also made the pedals for Chet's guitar. Dean , as most of us know, went to work for Gretsch at Chet's urging, when they were having QC problems after Baldwin took ownership and moved the plant to Arkansas. Dean was a great session guitarist in Nashville and worked on the road with alot of different people and was a very good friend of Chets. He worked many times on Chet's '59 CG. Dean's guitar had an assortment of pedals that worked various strings and was a pioneer with the pedal concept. His pedals predated the Bigsby Palm Pedal. The string bending on Chet's guitar on the tune Rythm Guitar I believe was done with the Dean installed pedal on Chet's '59. The time of the recording and the time frame that Chet had the pedal on his guitar falls at about the same time. I got to know Dean pretty well before he passed away. He had a lot of great stories! I've often wondered about the pedal on Chet's guitar and how it worked. I have a b bender pedal on an old CG that Dean made that "rides" on the bigsby and still allows the bigsby to be fully functional.

Also, I think the pedal setup on Phil Baugh's guitar was an invention of steel guitarist Maurice Anderson. I talked Phil and Maurice at the 1981 Steel Guitar convention and almost had Maurice put one on my Peavey T-60. Maurice built the MSA Steel guitar line.

Thanks for setting the record straight on all that. Now, I do remember Paul talking about Dean Porter doing some work on Chet's '59 CG, I just didn't remember associating it with Chet's palm pedals, I'm sure you are right! I know Paul did mention Shot doing some palm pedal work also (maybe he did some for Paul ? I can't remember it all).Sometimes my 66 year old brain doesn't exactly recall all the 40 year old stories Is that called "getting old"? thanks, Gayle

Believe me Gayle, I know it myself all too much! I only knew because of getting to know Dean. If I can, I think I'll try to get a hold of Dean's family and see if they have any pictures I can post. I wish I would have asked Dean more about it when I could have. He was a great guy and always ready to share of himself. We have lost too many of the great ones.

Oh man, that would be great! I remember seeing those plugged holes in Chet's '59 CG,,,,if I remember correctly he had put some metal grommets in those holes which were drilled out to mount that device. I always wondered what the actual monster looked like when he had it on his guitar (?) Evidently, he wasn't to enthused with it,,,Paul always said he didn't have it on for very long. You're right, we've lost so much knowledge in the last few years, I miss ole Paul every day, he was always "there" to answer any questions, he was a treasure trove - - there will never be another like him, that's for sure! He told me so much over the many years,,,,its hard to remember it all. thanks, Gayle

gmoseley wrote: I always wondered what the actual monster looked like when he had it on his guitar (?)

I don't know what the monster on Chet's guitar looked like, but this is pretty monstrous. I could never get this device mastered I'm pretty sure. This has been a great discussion and I appreciate all the info. ThanksRay

gmoseley wrote: I always wondered what the actual monster looked like when he had it on his guitar (?)

I don't know what the monster on Chet's guitar looked like, but this is pretty monstrous. I could never get this device mastered I'm pretty sure. This has been a great discussion and I appreciate all the info. ThanksRay

Audie, I appreciate your deep insights into all of this. I can tell when something feels "authoritative". You and I have to get in touch again!We were for a while and then one long weekend trip got me distracted, followed by school starting up again. I hope you're doing well down in Ohio!